Cannes-Do Spirit

This year’s Cannes Film Festival may make the French Riviera look suspiciously like a colonized outpost of Hollywood. At this year’s event, which runs through May 26, Steven Spielberg heads the jury, Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward adorn the poster, and numerous American films are official selections. Still, after 66 years, Cannes remains the most famous international film festival, one that prides itself on discovering new voices from around the globe and celebrating them long before anyone else does.

The festival’s top prize, the Palme d’Or (Golden Palm), often heralds the arrival of such a voice, or even a movement. At the very least, it’s a good sign of who’ll be at the Oscars in nine months. The Cannes jury’s choices are always thought-provoking and often argument-launching.

Here are ten Palme d’Or winners that, right or wrong, proved to be landmarks in the history of film.